As part of the Places You’ll Go series, this interview with Margarita Pavlova follows a CERGE-EI student’s research stay at Yale University — a journey shaped by academic ambition, unexpected confidence, and the search for the right intellectual environment. What began as a strategic step to advance a Job Market Paper became a much broader experience of growth: from engaging with leading scholars in labor economics to discovering that top academic spaces are not only demanding, but also deeply energizing. In this conversation, she reflects on choosing Yale, navigating the road to the US, and what the experience taught her about research, collaboration, and believing in her own ideas. Continue reading Research, Risk, and Growth: My Time at Yale →